"They should be taught about how to use and truly understand computer technology."
A waste of time. I'm sorry, but the only people who really NEED to know how to use a computer are those of us who keep them working. The average person simply doesn't use them enough to need any more knowledge than "I use MS Word to type and Outlook to send email!" or "I use Firefox because my IT guy says so!" I mean yeah, you can make the point that they SHOULD understand computers, but hey, I drive a car everyday, and I have little idea how it works. Sure I could find out, but I really don't care enough to. Apply that to the computer situation.
"Honestly.. do you think in 5-8 years that OpenOffice.org will not be just a tad more attractive to businesses?"
And how do the said businesses know that OpenOffice will be around in 5-6 years? Will they be able to get support or training for it? Will there be up-to-date documentation? Maybe, maybe not.
Will Microsoft be around in 5-6 years? A most definite yes.
"By the time kids in high school now are graduating from college and getting their first real jobs, MS Office may well be a thing of the past."
Give me a break! It would take Armageddon to do in a flagship MS product line. You must be having delusions of OpenOffice granduer to think that.
I'm sorry, but in general most open source projects that are supposed to be replacements for commercial software just don't cut the mustard (Firefox excepted). They don't look as good, they don't feel as good, the support isn't there, there's no guarrantee of reliability, and just doesn't look good to a business and most individuals.
What I want to see is something you can stick on your key chain, slide it into any computer you happen to be on, and have it load up your desktop, files, and applications. Also, I don't want to have it running the OS off the device. Heck, I suppose a USB thumbdrive would work, if someone could figure out how to run applications off one (yeah, you can run exe's, but what about apps that need reg entries?)
*Is it me, or is there someone on Slashdot who will argue anything...*
My main point is that there are a fair number of people out there who's sole reason for owning a computer is email and the internet. Most Linux distro's are excellent for that purpose. They come with all the software you need for those purposes.
Were you born that stupid, or did you have to study for it? Notice that the bold section you wrote says exactly the same thing as the bold section grandparent wrote. Why did you post at all?
His point was different though. He was going on about how we should just give up on the RIAA and film industry. His was not talking about not pirating...he was pissed off because this law was tough on pirating. Notice how he inserted "don't pirate" between "don't see their movies" and "don't have anything to do with their movies"
My point was simply don't pirate and the new law won't matter. The parent poster should not have been so pissed about this law if he was really against pirating.
Yes! Yes! Lets increase ALL the sentences! In fact lets reduce crime by making them all draconian. Caught speeding 1km/hr over the speed limit? The cop shouldn't fine you - he should execute you on the spot! Then no one will speed and kill people!
Woohoo!! Lets exaggerate and be absurd until our point is invalidated!!!! Weee!!!
So you're saying that making rapists pay more time in prison is draconian and comparable to cops killing someone for driving 1km/hr over the speed limit. Get real.
I would build a Linux box for any noob (read person who really doesn't do anything on their machine but email, surf the web, type the occasional letter, and print photos) computer user. I can build a machine and throw Linux on it, save hundreds on the OS and productivity software, and it will be the perfect machine for grandma or other non-techie person. For example, Fedora 3 comes with Firefox, an email client, a good messenging client, a media player, and a good word processor. That is pretty much all you want for a person with the needs stated earlier.
People always say "Oh, but installing is oh so hard!!!" But how often does your every day user install anything? THe last time my mother-in-law installed anything on her ancient P2 system was to put Norton AV on there. Which you don't even need under Linux.
Standardizations aren't what Linux needs (though it is wouldn't hurt) to get average user marketshare. What it needs is marketing. I want to walk into a software store, see a box for Fedora (or whatever the most user friendly version is) for $20 bucks. The box needs to say that it will replace Windows, work faster, more secure, and so on. It needs to be a box that if I'm a noob, I'd buy it. It needs to be something that average Joe will recognize as legit and good.
"Show the RIAA that we are not sheep. Show them that we don't need to see the latest Keanu Reeves travesty. Show them we're tired of their shit. Don't see their movies. Don't pirate their movies. Don't have anything to do with their movies. If enough of us shake off the yoke, it will make a difference"
I don't know, but how about showing them we're not thieves and stop "sharing" music/movies/software or anything else that we don't have the rights to.
Of course, we have enough laws that should deal with this already without needing a new one, but oh well. Personally I believe that this is a case of only the lawless need fear the law.
I mean like two different account types. Artists (posters) and Users (downloads/sharers) Artists register their files with the network. Users can then download and share those files, but ONLY those files. They can't add anything they've ripped off a cd or anything like that.
Basically, there just needs to be a system in place to make sure that the music really is independent so that this doesn't become just another Kazaa or Napster.
So true. I've been looking (not too much though) for somewhere to find good indy music. I'm tired of all the crap that the commercial music industry keeps pumping out. I mean, you turn on MTV and all that stuff (in the same genre) SOUNDS EXACTLY THE SAME. Occasionally someone will get lucky and make a track that sounds original, but the rest is like the parent said, "Cookie cutter music". How many Creed-ish bands have popped up in the last few years? How many 50 Cents have we heard? How many Linkin Parks? Aaargghh!!
I used to by lots of cds because I liked a song that an artist had. Then I realized that either all of the songs on their cd sounded the same, like one big hour long song, or they had one good song and the rest were utter crap.
So/rant and give me my indy music download client!
I think they should do something like having the artists register which songs they are distributing. There then could be a master list of all available songs that the user side would look to to see if the song they are downloading is supposed to be on the network. It would also be a good idea to make it so that users cannot add files to the network. Probably there's a much better way of doing this that might already be imped, but that's just the concept that I was thinking about.
"candy-assed chickenshit loser" "low-crawled across the sticky floor of a gay bordello to suck a fat boy's dick"
Insightful? No. Vulgar flamebait? Yes.
"Face facts Swift Boat Fuck; George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and most of the other Republicans who came of draft age during the Vietnam era would have low-crawled across the sticky floor of a gay bordello to suck a fat boy's dick if that's what it would have taken to keep them out of Vietnam."
Maybe you should tell that to all the Republican Vietnam veterans who voted for Bush.
By having the cost of the line at $35 and then having to get an ISP for about $10-12, it would barely be any cheaper than my CableOne service
Thats what drives me nuts too. I pay $50 for cable, and that includes a $10 tv package with about 25 channels. I don't need 3mb of bandwidth, nor do I watch tv that often, but DSL isn't really any cheaper when you have to buy a phone line too, and I don't need a phone line. If they offered a 512k package for 25-30 bucks with service included, I would be all over that. And I'm sure a lot of other people would be too.
But I've been running my Windows box with the Admin account forever. Never have I had any trouble with haxors or viruses. I would say this is due to the firewall and AV software I have running. Now, could I run an account with less privileges and not worry about AV or firewall? Maybe, but I'd be thowing out a lot of convenience of being able to change settings and install software without putting in a password.
Plus, I think some people are missing his point. OS's can be restalled. HD's can be reformatted. Files can be replaced. But once important personal data is in the wrong hands, there is not getting it back. He's saying that a system crash for most users is not as critical as having important data stolen. So as far as securing data, (for as single user) running as root is no more secure than running a limited account.
If it makes it to where I am, I would gladly switch to dsl instead my cable. I don't need all the bandwidth that cable provides, but DSL costs just as much right now because I have to have a phone line with it. (I use a cell phone)
I have no way of knowing, but at the rate technology is going right now, we'll probably have something capable of blowing the thing into gravel by 2035. Or at least something that we can knock it out of the way with.
I can't even imagine what things will be like in another 30 years...I mean, if in 1915 you told someone that in 30 years a bomb would be built powerful enough to flatten a small city, they'd laugh at you.
I like Sygate too, but for some reason after leaving my computer on for a few hours, Sygate starts eating up 99% of my system resources. I don't know why...it doesn't do it on any other machines I've put it on. Maybe it's just a software/hardware conflict.
Slashdot Mirror
Imagine a grey windows XP...that has the style of a poorly done winamp skin...and you begin to see the horror that is Long Horn.
I *will* be modded as troll, flaimbait or whatever, but there are other governments that fit this criteria Ha, not on Slashdot for an anti-Bush post.
The 25% was for Pilot Aptitude, yes. You neglect to mention that Bush scored 95% in Officer Quality and 85% on Verbal Aptitude on that same test.
Thank you for throwing numbers around out of context!
It hard to tell if this guy's crazy, or just trying to be funny by totally overblowing religious beliefs...
"They should be taught about how to use and truly understand computer technology."
A waste of time. I'm sorry, but the only people who really NEED to know how to use a computer are those of us who keep them working. The average person simply doesn't use them enough to need any more knowledge than "I use MS Word to type and Outlook to send email!" or "I use Firefox because my IT guy says so!" I mean yeah, you can make the point that they SHOULD understand computers, but hey, I drive a car everyday, and I have little idea how it works. Sure I could find out, but I really don't care enough to. Apply that to the computer situation.
"Honestly.. do you think in 5-8 years that OpenOffice.org will not be just a tad more attractive to businesses?"
And how do the said businesses know that OpenOffice will be around in 5-6 years? Will they be able to get support or training for it? Will there be up-to-date documentation? Maybe, maybe not.
Will Microsoft be around in 5-6 years? A most definite yes.
"By the time kids in high school now are graduating from college and getting their first real jobs, MS Office may well be a thing of the past."
Give me a break! It would take Armageddon to do in a flagship MS product line. You must be having delusions of OpenOffice granduer to think that.
I'm sorry, but in general most open source projects that are supposed to be replacements for commercial software just don't cut the mustard (Firefox excepted). They don't look as good, they don't feel as good, the support isn't there, there's no guarrantee of reliability, and just doesn't look good to a business and most individuals.
Simply because MS Office is the most popular, most wide spread, and that's what kids should be learning. :)
That was NOT a good thing to post on Slashdot for him....
What I want to see is something you can stick on your key chain, slide it into any computer you happen to be on, and have it load up your desktop, files, and applications. Also, I don't want to have it running the OS off the device. Heck, I suppose a USB thumbdrive would work, if someone could figure out how to run applications off one (yeah, you can run exe's, but what about apps that need reg entries?)
it leaves one question in my mind.
Why?
*Is it me, or is there someone on Slashdot who will argue anything...*
My main point is that there are a fair number of people out there who's sole reason for owning a computer is email and the internet. Most Linux distro's are excellent for that purpose. They come with all the software you need for those purposes.
Were you born that stupid, or did you have to study for it? Notice that the bold section you wrote says exactly the same thing as the bold section grandparent wrote. Why did you post at all?
His point was different though. He was going on about how we should just give up on the RIAA and film industry. His was not talking about not pirating...he was pissed off because this law was tough on pirating. Notice how he inserted "don't pirate" between "don't see their movies" and "don't have anything to do with their movies"
My point was simply don't pirate and the new law won't matter. The parent poster should not have been so pissed about this law if he was really against pirating.
Yes! Yes! Lets increase ALL the sentences! In fact lets reduce crime by making them all draconian. Caught speeding 1km/hr over the speed limit? The cop shouldn't fine you - he should execute you on the spot! Then no one will speed and kill people!
Woohoo!! Lets exaggerate and be absurd until our point is invalidated!!!! Weee!!!
So you're saying that making rapists pay more time in prison is draconian and comparable to cops killing someone for driving 1km/hr over the speed limit. Get real.
I would build a Linux box for any noob (read person who really doesn't do anything on their machine but email, surf the web, type the occasional letter, and print photos) computer user. I can build a machine and throw Linux on it, save hundreds on the OS and productivity software, and it will be the perfect machine for grandma or other non-techie person. For example, Fedora 3 comes with Firefox, an email client, a good messenging client, a media player, and a good word processor. That is pretty much all you want for a person with the needs stated earlier.
People always say "Oh, but installing is oh so hard!!!" But how often does your every day user install anything? THe last time my mother-in-law installed anything on her ancient P2 system was to put Norton AV on there. Which you don't even need under Linux.
Standardizations aren't what Linux needs (though it is wouldn't hurt) to get average user marketshare. What it needs is marketing. I want to walk into a software store, see a box for Fedora (or whatever the most user friendly version is) for $20 bucks. The box needs to say that it will replace Windows, work faster, more secure, and so on. It needs to be a box that if I'm a noob, I'd buy it. It needs to be something that average Joe will recognize as legit and good.
Rapists can get less time than this...
Then maybe rapists should get more time.
"Show the RIAA that we are not sheep. Show them that we don't need to see the latest Keanu Reeves travesty. Show them we're tired of their shit. Don't see their movies. Don't pirate their movies. Don't have anything to do with their movies. If enough of us shake off the yoke, it will make a difference"
I don't know, but how about showing them we're not thieves and stop "sharing" music/movies/software or anything else that we don't have the rights to.
Of course, we have enough laws that should deal with this already without needing a new one, but oh well. Personally I believe that this is a case of only the lawless need fear the law.
I mean like two different account types. Artists (posters) and Users (downloads/sharers) Artists register their files with the network. Users can then download and share those files, but ONLY those files. They can't add anything they've ripped off a cd or anything like that.
Basically, there just needs to be a system in place to make sure that the music really is independent so that this doesn't become just another Kazaa or Napster.
So true. I've been looking (not too much though) for somewhere to find good indy music. I'm tired of all the crap that the commercial music industry keeps pumping out. I mean, you turn on MTV and all that stuff (in the same genre) SOUNDS EXACTLY THE SAME. Occasionally someone will get lucky and make a track that sounds original, but the rest is like the parent said, "Cookie cutter music". How many Creed-ish bands have popped up in the last few years? How many 50 Cents have we heard? How many Linkin Parks? Aaargghh!!
/rant and give me my indy music download client!
I used to by lots of cds because I liked a song that an artist had. Then I realized that either all of the songs on their cd sounded the same, like one big hour long song, or they had one good song and the rest were utter crap.
So
I think they should do something like having the artists register which songs they are distributing. There then could be a master list of all available songs that the user side would look to to see if the song they are downloading is supposed to be on the network. It would also be a good idea to make it so that users cannot add files to the network. Probably there's a much better way of doing this that might already be imped, but that's just the concept that I was thinking about.
"candy-assed chickenshit loser"
"low-crawled across the sticky floor of a gay bordello to suck a fat boy's dick"
Insightful? No. Vulgar flamebait? Yes.
"Face facts Swift Boat Fuck; George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and most of the other Republicans who came of draft age during the Vietnam era would have low-crawled across the sticky floor of a gay bordello to suck a fat boy's dick if that's what it would have taken to keep them out of Vietnam."
Maybe you should tell that to all the Republican Vietnam veterans who voted for Bush.
By having the cost of the line at $35 and then having to get an ISP for about $10-12, it would barely be any cheaper than my CableOne service Thats what drives me nuts too. I pay $50 for cable, and that includes a $10 tv package with about 25 channels. I don't need 3mb of bandwidth, nor do I watch tv that often, but DSL isn't really any cheaper when you have to buy a phone line too, and I don't need a phone line. If they offered a 512k package for 25-30 bucks with service included, I would be all over that. And I'm sure a lot of other people would be too.
But I've been running my Windows box with the Admin account forever. Never have I had any trouble with haxors or viruses. I would say this is due to the firewall and AV software I have running. Now, could I run an account with less privileges and not worry about AV or firewall? Maybe, but I'd be thowing out a lot of convenience of being able to change settings and install software without putting in a password.
Plus, I think some people are missing his point. OS's can be restalled. HD's can be reformatted. Files can be replaced. But once important personal data is in the wrong hands, there is not getting it back. He's saying that a system crash for most users is not as critical as having important data stolen. So as far as securing data, (for as single user) running as root is no more secure than running a limited account.
If it makes it to where I am, I would gladly switch to dsl instead my cable. I don't need all the bandwidth that cable provides, but DSL costs just as much right now because I have to have a phone line with it. (I use a cell phone)
I have no way of knowing, but at the rate technology is going right now, we'll probably have something capable of blowing the thing into gravel by 2035. Or at least something that we can knock it out of the way with.
I can't even imagine what things will be like in another 30 years...I mean, if in 1915 you told someone that in 30 years a bomb would be built powerful enough to flatten a small city, they'd laugh at you.
I like Sygate too, but for some reason after leaving my computer on for a few hours, Sygate starts eating up 99% of my system resources. I don't know why...it doesn't do it on any other machines I've put it on. Maybe it's just a software/hardware conflict.
It takes a little effort to find on their site, but it's still there, and they recently updated it too.